GOP voters back immigration reform

Comprehensive immigration reform enjoys broad bipartisan support, but is particularly intense among Hispanic voters, who are most likely to weigh the issue heavily as they assess candidates, according to a new POLITICO poll of voters in places with the most competitive House and Senate races.

Seventy-one percent of likely voters surveyed — and nine of 10 Hispanics — said they back sweeping change to immigration laws. The support spans party lines: 64 percent of Republican respondents back comprehensive immigration reform, as do 78 percent of Democrats and 71 percent of independents.

The survey, which was conducted in both English and Spanish, found that 41 percent of Hispanic voters “strongly support” comprehensive immigration reform; while 28 percent of white voters and 17 percent of African American voters said the same.

Asked how important the issue was to determining which candidate to vote for, 85 percent of Hispanic voters called it “important” while 53 percent said it was “very important.” Seventy-four percent of white voters and 58 percent of African American voters called it important.

Overall, only 28 percent of those surveyed oppose comprehensive immigration reform, with 12 percent saying they are strongly opposed.

The poll, designed by SocialSphere and conducted by the research firm GfK, surveyed 867 likely voters between May 2 and 13, in places with highly competitive midterm contests. The poll, conducted with GfK’s online KnowledgePanel methodology has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 4.1 percentage points.